he really has the emotional intelligence and stability of a 3 year old

Metta WorldPeace ‏ @MettaWorldPeace Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
I just watched the replay again..... Oooo.. My celebration of the dunk really was too much... Didn't even see James ..... Omg... Looks bad
2h Metta WorldPeace ‏ @MettaWorldPeace Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Hope James Hardin is ok... I remember when I hit by Marc Gasol the same way.. I was spitting up blood and a headache during the game...

That was a bad elbow and he will get a deserved suspension. But, I would fall short of hyper criticism of 'ol Meta this time. He was celebrating a big dunk and Harden got right under him. He elbowed him out of the way and was wrong to do it. But, watching in real time you see a celebrating NBA player elbow a guy who gets up into him during the celebration. I don't see any more than that.

I'm not sure why some people are so hell bent on trying to defend Artest. I think there's a defense for him for the brawl he had in the stands several years ago - someone antagonized him and set him off. Doesn't make it right, but there's the defense.

In this situation, there is not even the most remote of chances that the elbow was unintentional. Nor is it even slightly true that the player he elbowed "got up into him" during his celebration. The guy was down there for the in-bound pass and was playing the game, not just shoving him.

Artest's actions are disgusting. He shouldn't be allowed to continue playing in the league when he clearly has no problem with essentially sucker punching someone for absolutely no reason.

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When it first happened, I did side with Artest that it was merely an accident. However, once you look at the replay, you can clearly see that James Harden had bumped into him, and was trying to get by well before he even cocked back his elbow. Not to mention, swinging your elbow with that much force at that angle has NOTHING to do with a celebration of beating your chest. If the hit was with the back of Artest's fist, MAYBE you could rationalize it. As it stands now, there is no excuse. Combined with the face that Artest was ready to engage and fight Ibaka, who understandably confronted him about the hit, he had to know what he did, and what reaction was gonna come next. There is no spin whatsoever that could get Artest out of this one. He will, and should get a hefty suspension.

That was a bad elbow and he will get a deserved suspension. But, I would fall short of hyper criticism of 'ol Meta this time. He was celebrating a big dunk and Harden got right under him. He elbowed him out of the way and was wrong to do it. But, watching in real time you see a celebrating NBA player elbow a guy who gets up into him during the celebration. I don't see any more than that.

The problem to me was the force of the elbow and the deliberateness of the motion.

If it was really just a quick, heat of the moment, glancing elbow, I could go with a game or two. But Artest cocked the elbow and delivered it high and with full force in a deliberate motion.

He wasn't trying to get Harden off of him, he was trying to elbow Harden.

I think those tweets should extend the suspension. It's deplorable to throw a cheap shot to the head like that in a game, but I would argue it's a worse sign of character to pretend like it was an accident when anybody with two eyes can see the intent to injure.